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======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Leaked Memo Says Apple Provides Backdoor To Governments
* SOPA Makes Strange Bedfellows
* Microsoft Patents Bad Neighborhood Detection
* World's Largest Passenger Plane May Be Unsafe, Some Say
* Chinese Lab Speeds Through Genome Processing With GPUs
* Do Online Educational Badges Threaten Conventional Education Models?
* China To Begin Submitting Air Pollution Reports
* North Korean Nuclear Facilities, From 30,000 Feet
* Microsoft Scraps 'Where's My Phone Update?' Site
* Employee-Owned Devices Muddy Data Privacy Rights
* OLPC XO-3 To Debut At CES, Starting Under $100 (But Not For You)
* Where Were the Robots In Fukushima Crisis?
* Lower Limit Found For Sudoku Puzzle Clues
* Ask Slashdot: Documenting Scattered Sites and Systems?
* Chance To Snap Up Your Own Observatory
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Leaked Memo Says Apple Provides Backdoor To Governments
| from the well-we-know-att-does dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @06:57 (Blackberry)
| with 464 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/069204/leaked-memo-says-apple-provides-backdoor-to-governments?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voline writes "In [0]a tweet early this morning, cybersecurity researcher
[1]Christopher Soghoian pointed to an internal memo of India's Military
Intelligence that has been liberated by hackers and [2]posted on the Net.
The memo suggests that, "in exchange for the Indian market presence"
mobile device manufacturers, including RIM, Nokia, and Apple
(collectively defined in the document as "RINOA") have agreed to provide
backdoor access on their devices. The Indian government then "utilized
backdoors provided by RINOA" to intercept internal emails of the
[3]U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. government
body with a mandate to monitor, investigate and report to Congress on
'the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic
relationship' between the U.S. and China. Manan Kakkar, an Indian blogger
for ZDNet, has also [4]picked up the story and writes that it may be the
fruits of an earlier hack of Symantec. If Apple is providing governments
with a backdoor to iOS, can we assume that they have also done so with
Mac OS X?"
Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/069204/leaked-memo-says-apple-provides-backdoor-to-governments?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. https://twitter.com/#!/csoghoian/status/155524871009468416
1. http://www.dubfire.net/
2. http://imgur.com/a/8XoGf#0
3. http://www.uscc.gov/
4. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/india/have-rim-nokia-apple-provided-indian-military-with-backdoor-access-to-cellular-comm/838
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| SOPA Makes Strange Bedfellows
| from the and-they-keep-stealing-the-covers dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @10:24 (Censorship)
| with 358 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1439235/sopa-makes-strange-bedfellows?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]davide marney writes "What do 1-800-Contacts, Adidas, Americans for
Tax Reform, Comcast, the Country Music Association, Estee Lauder, Ford,
Nike and Xerox all have in common? According to OpenCongress.org, they
[1]all have specifically endorsed H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act.
A total of 158 corporations have signed up in favor of the bill, and only
87 against. $21 Million has been donated to Congressmen who favor the
bill, but only $5 Million to those against. Thanks to OpenCongress for
these insights. This goes a long way towards explaining why this bill has
so much traction, despite all its negative publicity."
Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1439235/sopa-makes-strange-bedfellows?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. mailto:davide.marney@netmedia.org
1. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/money
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft Patents Bad Neighborhood Detection
| from the not-sure-why-people-are-so-worked-up-about-it dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @11:26 (Microsoft)
| with 261 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1625208/microsoft-patents-bad-neighborhood-detection?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PolygamousRanchKid writes with these lines culled from InformationWeek:
"With the grant of their US Patent #8090532 Microsoft may be attempting
to corner the market on GPS systems for use by pedestrians, or they may
have opened a fertile ground for discrimination lawsuits. ... Described
as a patent on pedestrian route production, the patent describes a
two-way system of building navigation devices [0]targeted at people who
are not in vehicles, but still require the use of such a device to most
efficiently route to their destination. ... For example, the user inputs
their destination and any constraints or requirements they might have,
such as a wheelchair accessible route, types of terrain they are willing
to cross, the option of public transportation, and a way point such as
the nearest Starbucks on the route. Any previously configured preferences
are also considered, such as avoiding neighborhoods that exceed a certain
threshold of violent crime statistics (hence the description of this as
the 'avoid bad neighborhoods' patent), fastest route, most scenic, etc."
Having lived in some high-crime neighborhoods, the actual feature (versus
the patent) sounds like a great idea to me.
Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1625208/microsoft-patents-bad-neighborhood-detection?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/geo-location/232301460
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| World's Largest Passenger Plane May Be Unsafe, Some Say
| from the whereas-perfect-safety-is-wonderful dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @18:11 (Transportation)
| with 240 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/2311232/worlds-largest-passenger-plane-may-be-unsafe-some-say?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CNET reports (citing this [0]BBC video account) that some aircraft
engineers in Australia are concerned about small cracks that have
appeared on the wing ribs of some Airbus A380 airplanes, a report says.
They're [1]calling for the whole fleet to be grounded, but Airbus says
the cracks are harmless.
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/2311232/worlds-largest-passenger-plane-may-be-unsafe-some-say?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16452878
1. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-57354488-52/worlds-largest-passenger-plane-may-be-unsafe-some-say/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chinese Lab Speeds Through Genome Processing With GPUs
| from the looking-for-the-reset-button dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @15:54 (China)
| with 211 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/2041217/chinese-lab-speeds-through-genome-processing-with-gpus?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Eric Smalley writes "The world's largest genome sequencing center once
needed four days to analyze data describing a human genome. Now it needs
just six hours. The trick is servers built with graphics chips ��� the sort
of processors that were originally designed to draw images on your
personal computer. They're called graphics processing units, or GPUs ��� a
term coined by chip giant Nvidia. This fall, [1]BGI ��� a mega lab
headquartered in Shenzhen, China ��� switched to servers that use GPUs
built by Nvidia, and this [2]slashed its genome analysis time by more
than an order of magnitude."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/2041217/chinese-lab-speeds-through-genome-processing-with-gpus?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. mailto:eric.smalley@gmail.com
1. http://en.genomics.cn/navigation/index.action
2. http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/01/genomes-and-gpus/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Do Online Educational Badges Threaten Conventional Education Models?
| from the harvard-lite-doesn't-have-the-same-ring dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @17:03 (Education)
| with 188 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/221257/do-online-educational-badges-threaten-conventional-education-models?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "Educational badges, which seem like a playful
riff on Boy Scout skill patches, pose an existential crisis for colleges
and universities. If students can collect credentials from MITx and Khan
Academy and other free Web sites, [0]why go to a campus?"
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/221257/do-online-educational-badges-threaten-conventional-education-models?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://chronicle.com/article/Badges-Earned-Online-Pose/130241/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China To Begin Submitting Air Pollution Reports
| from the everything-counts-in-large-amounts dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday January 07, @22:02 (China)
| with 171 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0258227/china-to-begin-submitting-air-pollution-reports?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
smitty777 writes "China will start to publish [0]air pollution reports,
possibly in response to reports from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing which
has been publishing its own data. This report is significant in that it's
based on the PM2.5 standard, which measures the more harmful particles
that are less than 2.5 microns. This comes on the heels of a [1]separate
report that lists China as the worst polluter worldwide. According to
this report, China now produces 6,832 m tons of CO2, a 754% increase
since 1971. While the U.S. is in second at 5,195 m, this represents an
increase of only 21%. This article notes 'the rapid growth in emissions
for China, India, and Africa. This will continue as their middle classes
buy houses and vehicles. The growth in Middle East emissions is
staggering, a reflection of their growing oil fortunes.' While we're on
the subject of India, their pollution levels are thought to be
responsible for a [2]dense cloud of fog that is so thick it created a
cold front, and is repsonsible for a number of deaths."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0258227/china-to-begin-submitting-air-pollution-reports?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/123599/beijing-to-issue-new-smog-data-after-online-outcry
1. http://www.thestreet.com/story/11343616/1/global-pollution-biggest-offenders.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN
2. http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=40475
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| North Korean Nuclear Facilities, From 30,000 Feet
| from the that-seems-like-a-nice-safe-distance dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @04:00 (The Military)
| with 154 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0629238/north-korean-nuclear-facilities-from-30000-feet?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Harperdog writes "Niko Milonopoulos, Siegfried S. Hecker, and Robert
Carlin [1]analyze terrific overhead photos of North Korea's nuclear
facilities, discussing the rate of building and what the photos show.
Also points to options for dealing with North Korea and their energy
needs."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0629238/north-korean-nuclear-facilities-from-30000-feet?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.thebulletin.org/
1. http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/north-korea-30000-feet
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Microsoft Scraps 'Where's My Phone Update?' Site
| from the just-when-you-least-expect-it dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @01:03 (Microsoft)
| with 140 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0557209/microsoft-scraps-wheres-my-phone-update-site?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft disappointed some Windows Phone
users on Friday by saying it [0]would stop providing specifics about who
will get software updates and when, and announcing vaguely that a new
update is 'available to all carriers that request it.' The update fixes a
few issues, including one that caused the on-screen keyboard to disappear
and another that caused problems with synching Gmail. Eric Hautala,
general manager of customer experience engineering for Windows Phone,
said Microsoft will no longer say when people will get updates based on
their country, phone model and carrier."
Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0557209/microsoft-scraps-wheres-my-phone-update-site?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/010712-microsoft-scraps-wheres-my-phone-254631.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Employee-Owned Devices Muddy Data Privacy Rights
| from the ownership-is-theft dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @14:50 (The Courts)
| with 127 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1932224/employee-owned-devices-muddy-data-privacy-rights?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]snydeq writes "As companies increasingly enable employees to bring
their own devices into business environments, [1]significant legal
questions remain regarding the data consumed and created on these
employee-owned technologies. 'Strictly speaking, employees have no
privacy rights for what's transmitted on company equipment, but employers
don't necessarily have access rights to what's transmitted on employees'
own devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and home PCs. Also unclear are
the rights for information that moves between personal and corporate
devices, such as between one employee who uses her own Android and an
employee who uses the corporate-issued iPhone. ... This confusion extends
to trade secrets and other confidential data, as well as to e-discovery.
When employees store company data on their personal devices, that could
invalidate the trade secrets, as they've left the employer's control.
Given that email clients such as Outlook and Apple Mail store local
copies (again, on smartphones, tablets, and home PCs) of server-based
email, theoretically many companies' trade secrets are no longer
secret.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1932224/employee-owned-devices-muddy-data-privacy-rights?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://www.infoworld.com/t/byod/lost-in-byods-uncharted-legal-waters-180793
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| OLPC XO-3 To Debut At CES, Starting Under $100 (But Not For You)
| from the yes-I-want-one dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday January 07, @19:01 (Displays)
| with 110 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0025234/olpc-xo-3-to-debut-at-ces-starting-under-100-but-not-for-you?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computerworld is one of many publications heralding the expected arrival
next week of the long-awaited [0]OLPC tablet, and making much of one very
cool feature: the price. The initial XO laptops from OLPC never quite
made it to the hoped-for under-$100 level. But at least with an ordinary
LCD screen, says project founder Nicholas Negroponte, [1]the new XO-3
actually has. (An optional daylight-readable Pixel Qi screen bumps the
price up, but it's not clear quite how much.) Both OLPC and Pixel Qi will
be at next week's CES; hopefully I'll get a chance to provide some
first-hand details, and ask whether there will be another round of the
Buy One Give One program, so users outside the reach of big government
buying programs can both further the project and play with the product;
so far, the word is that these will only be available for large
government buyers. (TechCruch has [2]better pictures of the new device.)
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/0025234/olpc-xo-3-to-debut-at-ces-starting-under-100-but-not-for-you?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/10/07/1725204/negroponte-on-olpcs-new-path-plans-for-xo-3
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9223242/OLPC_s_XO_3_tablet_to_debut_at_CES
2. http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/07/first-pictures-of-olpcs-xo-3-tablet-break-cover/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Where Were the Robots In Fukushima Crisis?
| from the robot-union-was-in-heavy-negotiations dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @09:29 (Japan)
| with 105 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1420254/where-were-the-robots-in-fukushima-crisis?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]mdsolar writes "When the huge Fukushima nuclear disaster first
started, many on Slashdot were calling for robots to come to the rescue.
This is the story of [1]why our overlords were caught napping. Not to
worry though, ��1 billion has been allocated to correct the robot problem.
They will be properly welcomed."
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1420254/where-were-the-robots-in-fukushima-crisis?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120106f1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Lower Limit Found For Sudoku Puzzle Clues
| from the 17-ain't-young dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @13:46 (Japan)
| with 96 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1845258/lower-limit-found-for-sudoku-puzzle-clues?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ananyo writes "An Irish mathematician has used a complex algorithm and
millions of hours of supercomputing time to solve an important open
problem in the mathematics of Sudoku, the game popularized in Japan that
involves filling in a 9X9 grid of squares with the numbers 1���9 according
to certain rules. Gary McGuire of University College Dublin shows in a
[0]proof posted online [PDF] that the minimum number of clues ��� or
starting digits ��� needed to complete a puzzle is 17; [1]puzzles with 16
or fewer clues do not have a unique solution. Most newspaper puzzles have
around 25 clues, with the difficulty of the puzzle decreasing as more
clues are given."
Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1845258/lower-limit-found-for-sudoku-puzzle-clues?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.math.ie/McGuire_V1.pdf
1. http://www.nature.com/news/mathematician-claims-breakthrough-in-sudoku-puzzle-1.9751
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Documenting Scattered Sites and Systems?
| from the you'll-need-a-lot-of-gasoline-but-only-1-match dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @12:34 (Businesses)
| with 77 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1733220/ask-slashdot-documenting-scattered-sites-and-systems?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First time accepted submitter capriguy84 writes "Six months ago I joined
a small firm(~30) where I am pretty much the IT systems guy. I was
immediately asked to work on couple of projects without much going
through the documentation on what currently exists. So I created new wiki
topics everywhere and whenever needed. I am now in a situation where
information is scattered across multiple pages and there is lot of
overlapping. So I have decided to start a project of re-organizing the
wiki so that it makes sense to me and easily accessible for others. I am
dealing with 2 disjoint sites, 4 data centers, managing all flavors of
Unix, windows, networking, storage, VMware etc. Along with that I have
HOWTO guides, cheatsheets, contracts, licensing, projects, proposals and
other things that typically exist in a enterprise. Any tips with how to
approach? Dos & Don'ts? Recommended reading?"
Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/1733220/ask-slashdot-documenting-scattered-sites-and-systems?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chance To Snap Up Your Own Observatory
| from the perfect-for-spotting-wales dept.
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 08, @08:28 (Space)
| with 53 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/052241/chance-to-snap-up-your-own-observatory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "Like to own your own five-story [1]observatory
equipped with a 12" Meade Schmidt Cassegrain catadioptric telescope and a
20-inch Shafer-Maksutov telescope ��� the [2]second-largest of its kind in
the world? Well, there's one for sale at Marina Towers in Swansea, at an
observatory that could be Wales' largest telescope. The Swansea
Astronomical Society moved out two years ago, blaming increased rent and
other costs. So the city council has asked interested parties to
[3]submit their proposals and financial offers by the end of March. Brian
Spinks, the chair of the society, says the extra rent and running costs
meant the society's members would have had to find around ��40,000 over
the next 10 years. 'The members can no longer be expected to finance such
a public presence from their annual subscription. If we had to find
��40,000 over the next 10 years [4]it would kill the society.' The
observatory was built in 1988 and includes a domed roof, an access tower
that houses a spiral staircase, a stained-glass roof by artist David
Pearl and panels of carved poetry by Nigel Jenkins. 'We'd like to see a
mixed-use development that incorporates features of the existing
observatory building,' says Coun Gareth Sullivan, Swansea council's
cabinet member for regeneration. '[5]Bringing the observatory back into
use would add even more vitality to the promenade.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/08/052241/chance-to-snap-up-your-own-observatory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.swanastro.org.uk/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Towers_Observatory
3. http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=47369
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/8303659.stm
5. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-16443575
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